


I'm Going Under Over You

by Caedmon



Series: Amelioration in Budapest [7]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Clint Barton Feels, Clint Feels, Clintasha - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Forgiveness, Natasha Feels, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha is a dessert thief, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-13 00:16:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2129850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caedmon/pseuds/Caedmon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha's trust in Clint grows. He proposes a trip for her birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'm Going Under Over You

**Author's Note:**

> I write all my stories out longhand before I type them up. This trip to Rome has taken up a ridiculous amount of the notebook I was writing in, front and back, and my handwriting isn't large. So...I've split it into at least three parts. 
> 
> This is not the best part. It gets better, I promise.
> 
> I've taken some liberties with the descriptions of Budapest and Rome. I've never been there, but I'm trying to be as accurate as I can with Google as my guide. I apologize for any inaccuracies. 
> 
>  
> 
> _“Come si desidera, bella.” - As you wish, beautiful._

Clint was light-hearted on his walk back to his hotel. He had no illusion that everything between he and Natasha was perfect, that she trusted him fully or that she would trust him completely immediately. But she would - and sooner rather than later. Further, there was something there for him. She felt _something._ The way she melted into him when they danced, the way she’d looked at him through dinner, the way she’d held his hand to the door - not to mention the arrow necklace - yes, there was definitely something for him there, but she wasn’t ready to tell him or define it. That was okay, he could wait to hear her tell him what was in her head. 

The sex could wait. He’d always been able to put that off; he had a hand an an imagination, that was no problem. But the need to kiss her was killing him. 

She was right; he was different now. Pre-New York Clint Barton loved Natasha, but never would have dreamed of any of this sappy, romantic shit. Not his style. He took her to the movies every now and then. They’d watch TV together and he’d hope that she’d get the hint of how he felt by osmosis or something. They’d been more demonstrative than most friend pairs, but that was deliberate on his part after the realization that he loved her. It was as close as he could get to being her man, and he took it. She went along with it, but never seemed to notice his intent. When he was locked in his mind by Hydra and forced to act against his will, the parts of his brain he retained control of comforted itself with those moments and memories. Sometimes he had started to wonder if those memories were real or not, but decided that it really didn’t matter; they were too precious, too comforting to give up. The thoughts of Natasha - the memories of her curled on his couch watching documentaries had been the only thread keeping him attached to the last bit of his mind he controlled. He loved her from their first trip to Budapest, but as he regained full control of his mind, he became completely single-minded - he had to show her he loved her and win her. It _had_ been about forgiveness - at least that’s what he had tried to tell himself. Clint felt pretty sure that if he could have felt sure of her forgiveness, he could have rested easily - as least as easily as he had before New York when he lay awake every night, wanting her. But he could live with that, as long as she didn’t hate him.

No, he couldn’t. Not anymore. Clint was lying to himself. He was a greedy bastard and he wanted - needed - it all. He wanted her forgiveness, her love, her heart. He wasn’t giving up until he got it, and it felt like he wasn’t far off the mark.

She’d mentioned wanting to see the castles tomorrow, maybe do some walking tours or something. Well, Clint could absolutely spend the day with her, no problem. And the day after tomorrow was her birthday, so he’d have to come up with something special. 

Clint stripped to his boxers and undershirt, crawling into the bed and mentally thanking Tony Stark for caring about Natasha so much he’d not only sent Clint over, he’d bankrolled his trip - _and_ booked Clint in the best hotel. He wondered if Natasha knew how much Tony thought of her. She so rarely knew when people cared about her, or knew how much. Case in point: he’d been in love with her for five years and she’d had no clue. But at the same time, she was wearing an arrow necklace and she’d been responding to him like she wanted him even though he had hurt her so very badly. 

Maybe she wasn’t the only one in this situation who was blind. 

oOo

Clint waited until almost eleven to set out for the safe house the next day. He spent the morning making arrangements for that day and the next - loose arrangements, most of them, in case she didn’t like what he had planned. 

He sent her a text before he left the hotel this time: _CLINT: got your glass slippers on? you’re supposed to wear them to the castle, I think }— >_

She replied almost immediately: _TASHA: Only if I’m looking for a prince while I’m there._

He chuckled and tapped out a reply. _CLINT: leave them off then. be there in ten. }-- >_

oOo

Clint concluded as they finished dessert at the little open air cafe that evening that this had to be the best day he’d ever had, without question. He and Natasha had grabbed lunch from a street vendor before touring a castle and joining a walking tour. Natasha had quietly slipped her hand into his early in the afternoon and had rarely let go. Neither of them made comment about it, they just took the other’s hand when he moment seemed right without speaking. 

Natasha snitched a bite off of his chocolate dessert without asking; this wasn’t exactly a new level of intimacy for them. They’d been stealing each others’ food for years. It still thrilled him to see her return to the familiar for them. Besides, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t picked the chocolate over the coconut with her in mind. Natasha hated coconut. 

“So,” she said as she reached across for another bite, “what’s on deck for tomorrow? Are we hanging out again?”

“Well, I had hoped so, and I had a couple of ideas. Everything is up to you, though.” He’d decided not to mention her birthday yet unless she did. “I was thinking…if you’d like…we could fly out in the morning for a couple of days.”

Her eyes widened as she chewed then swallowed his dessert. “Fly out to where?”

“It’s up to you. Rome? Paris? London? One of the places we’ve been to but never got to really see, you know?”

Natasha looked thoughtful. “That’s an interesting idea. Which one?”

“That’s your call.”

“Which would you prefer?”

Clint shrugged. “If it were up to me, I’d choose London or Athens, maybe Rome. But it’s entirely your call.”

“Let’s fly to Italy, rent a car, and tour the entire country.”

“Absolutely.”

“Will Tony let us -“

“I’ve already called. He said he’d have a jet here at 8am if you said you’d like to go.”

She smiled and snitched another bite of his cake. “Well then, I guess you’d better take me home so I can pack.”

oOo

Clint checked out of the hotel at 7:30am and headed to the safe house, texting when he was a block away. Tony sent word to Clint that as Natasha’s birthday gift, he expected Clint to put her in the penthouse. Clint replied that he planned to do that, but Tony had damned well better take it out of his pay - that this was his gift to Natasha, not Tony’s. The plane ride and fake papers Tony had sent could be the gift. Tony didn’t argue, but he figured there’d be a debate about it when they got back to New York.

Natasha met him at the door. “Hey, I’m almost ready. When does the plane leave?”

“Whenever we get there.”

“I won't be long, promise.”

Clint dropped his bag and waited, knowing from years of experience how meticulous Natasha was, but also that when she said it wouldn’t be long, it wouldn’t be. She was nothing if not efficient. 

He called out towards the bedroom, “Do you want to eat breakfast here, or when we get to Rome?”

“How about we eat at a little Italian place?”

“Sounds good.”   Clint walked through the kitchen and living room, idly checking that everything was off, knowing it would be. 

Natasha stepped into the living room smiling brightly with a bag on her shoulder. “Are we ready?”

He beamed at her. “So very ready. Let’s go have fun.”  

oOo

Natasha and Clint landed in Rome just over an hour later and rented a car under the name Rafael Addario - one of the two assumed identities Tony had sent. They got in the car and had a quick discussion about where to go. Clint didn’t care, he was just pleased to be int he company he was in. But to avoid appearing too much like a love-struck teenager, he threw out suggestions. 

“The Coliseum?”

“I don’t know. How about some art?”

“Vatican? Sistine Chapel? Some other churches? Statues?”  

“Let’s just head into town and see what we come to, shall we?”

“Come desideri, bella.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title is taken from Dave Matthews Band's "So Right" - http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/davematthewsband/soright.html
> 
> But in reference to the part where Clint talks about how maybe he wasn't the only one who had been blind, I think DMB's "Fool To Think" applies to both of them. - http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/davematthewsband/fooltothink.html


End file.
